Tool cabinet

ABSTRACT

A tool cabinet includes a cabinet frame unit with an open top portion, and open front, rear, left and right sides. A receiving tray is mounted in the top portion of the frame unit, and is covered by a top lid. A rear board member is mounted on the frame unit to close the rear side thereof. Parallel slide rails are mounted in the frame unit and cooperate with the receiving tray to define a drawer-receiving space in the cabinet frame unit below the receiving tray. A drawer member is disposed slidably in the drawer-receiving space. Left and right door panels are mounted pivotally on the rear board member and the cabinet frame unit for closing the left and right sides thereof. A front door panel is mounted pivotally on the frame unit for closing the front side thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The invention relates to a tool cabinet, more particularly to atool cabinet which incorprates a top lid and left, right and front doorpanels so as to facilitate fetching of tools therefrom.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional tool cabinet 1 is shown toinclude a cabinet body 11 which defines an open front side and twodrawer-receiving spaces accessible from the open front side, and twodrawer members 12 which are slidably and respectively disposed in thedrawer-receiving spaces and which are capable of being drawn out of thedrawer-receiving spaces via the open front side of the cabinet body 11for fetching tools 2 therefrom.

[0005] One disadvantage encountered during use of the aforesaidconventional tool cabinet 1 is as follows:

[0006] The drawer members 12 cannot be drawn out fully from the cabinetbody 11 due to a limiting member (not shown) which prevents the drawermembers 12 from being removed from the cabinet body 11. As such, theuser encounters difficulties when fetching the tools 2 which aredisposed at a rearmost part of the drawer members 12.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The object of this invention is to provide a tool cabinet thatcan eliminate the occurrence of the aforesaid disadvantage which resultsduring use of the conventional tool cabinet.

[0008] Accordingly, a tool cabinet of the present invention includes acabinet frame unit, a rear board member, a receiving tray, a drawermember, a top lid, left and right door panels, and a front door panel.The cabinet frame unit has an open top portion, a bottom portion, anopen left side, an open right side, an open front side, and an open rearside. The cabinet frame unit includes hollow left and right framemembers, a plurality of connecting rods, and a pair of parallel sliderails. The left and right frame members are disposed uprightly, definethe open left and right sides of the cabinet frame unit, and are spacedapart from each other in a first direction. The connecting rods extendin the first direction, interconnect the left and right frame members,and are disposed to define the open front and rear sides of the cabinetframe unit. The slide rails are mounted respectively on the left andright frame members and extend in a second direction transverse to thefirst direction. The rear board member is mounted on the cabinet frameunit to close the open rear side. The receiving tray is mounted in theopen top portion of the cabinet frame unit. The receiving traycooperates with the slide rails to define a drawer-receiving space inthe cabinet frame unit below the receiving tray. The drawer-receivingspace is accessible from the open front side of the cabinet frame unit.The drawer member is disposed in the drawer-receiving space, and is insliding engagement with the slide rails such that the drawer member iscapable of being drawn out of the drawer-receiving space via the openfront side of the cabinet frame unit. The top lid is mounted pivotallyon the cabinet frame unit so as to conceal the receiving tray in theopen top portion of the cabinet frame unit. The left and right doorpanels are mounted pivotally on one of the rear board member and thecabinet frame unit for closing a respective one of the open left andright sides of the cabinet frame unit. The front door panel is mountedpivotally on the cabinet frame unit for closing the open front side ofthe cabinet frame unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Other features and advantages of this invention will become moreapparent in the following detailed description of the preferredembodiment of this invention, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

[0010]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional tool cabinet;

[0011]FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a preferred embodimentof a tool cabinet according to the present invention;

[0012]FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the preferred embodiment,illustrating how a front door panel is opened in order to draw a drawermember outwardly from a cabinet frame unit;

[0013]FIG. 4 is a schematic top view of the preferred embodiment,illustrating how a top lid of the cabinet frame unit is supported byright and front door panels when the top lid is moved to an openposition so as to permit access into a top portion of the cabinet frameunit;

[0014]FIG. 5 is a schematic front view of the preferred embodiment,illustrating how pivotal movement of the front door panel relative tothe cabinet frame unit is arrested when at the open position; and

[0015]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment in use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0016] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the preferred embodiment of a toolcabinet according to this invention is shown to include a cabinet frameunit 3, a rear board member 35, a rectangular receiving tray 36, tworectangular drawer members 37, a top lid 4, left and right door panels5,7, and a front door panel 6.

[0017] As illustrated, the cabinet frame unit 3 has an open top portion,a bottom portion, an open left side, an open right side, an open frontside, and an open rear side. The cabinet frame unit 3 includes hollowleft and right frame members 31,32 that are generally inverted U-shaped,upper and lower pairs of connecting rods 33, and two pairs of parallelleft and right slide rails 34. The left and right frame members 31,32are disposed uprightly, define the open left and right sides of thecabinet frame unit 3, and are spaced apart from each other in a firstdirection. The connecting rods 33 extend in the first direction,interconnect the left and right frame members 31,32, and define the openfront and rear sides of the cabinet frame unit 3. The slide rails 34 arerespectively mounted on inner sides of the left and right frame members31,32, extend in a second direction transverse to the first direction,and are vertically spaced apart.

[0018] The rear board member 35 is mounted removably on the cabinetframe unit 3 to close the open rear side of the cabinet frame unit 3.

[0019] The receiving tray 36 is mounted in the open top portion of thecabinet frame unit 3, and cooperates with the slide rails 34 to definetwo drawer-receiving spaces in the cabinet frame unit 3 below thereceiving tray 36. Each of the drawer-receiving spaces is accessiblefrom the open front side of the cabinet frame unit 3.

[0020] Each of the drawer members 37 is disposed in a respective one ofthe drawer-receiving spaces, and is in sliding engagement with arespective pair of the slide rails 34 such that the drawer member 37 iscapable of being drawn out of the respective drawer-receiving space viathe open front side of the cabinet frame unit 3.

[0021] The top lid 4 is mounted pivotally on the right frame member 32of the cabinet frame unit 3 via two hinge units 41 so as to conceal thereceiving tray 36 in the open top portion of the cabinet frame unit 3.

[0022] The front door panel 6 is mounted pivotally on the right framemember 32 of the cabinet frame unit 3 via three hinge units 61 forclosing the open front side of the cabinet frame unit 3.

[0023] The right door panel 5 is mounted pivotally on the right framemember 32 of the cabinet frame unit 3 via three hinge units 51 forclosing the open right side of the cabinet frame unit 3.

[0024] Three fastener trays 72 are mounted on an inner side surface ofthe left door panel 7 to receiver fasteners, such as bolts and screws,therein, as best shown in FIG. 6. Preferably, the rear board member 35has a mounting flange portion 350 which projects relative to the leftframe member 31. The left door panel 7 is mounted pivotally on themounting flange portion 350 of the rear board member 35 via three hingeunits 71 such that the fastener trays 72 can be disposed on the innerside surface of the left door panel 7 without interfering with the leftframe member 31 when the left door panel 7 is at a closed position forclosing the open left side of the cabinet frame unit 3.

[0025] The bottom portion of the cabinet frame unit 3 is provided with aplurality of casters 9 that are mounted on bottom ends of the left andright frame members 31,32 to facilitate movement of the tool cabinet.

[0026] In this preferred embodiment, each of the right and front doorpanels 5, 6 is provided with a known retractable foot unit 52, 62. Thefoot unit 52, 62 is operable so as to extend between a retractedposition, as best shown in FIG. 3, where the foot unit 52, 62 does notextend beyond a bottom edge of a respective one of the right and frontdoor panels 5, 6, and an extended position, where the foot unit 52, 62extends beyond the bottom edge of the respective one of the right andfront door panels 5, 6 so as to be adapted to abut against a groundsurface in order to arrest the pivoting movement of the right and frontdoor panels 5, 6 relative to the cabinet frame unit 3. Preferably, eachof the foot units 52,62 is provided with a resilient foot pad 521,621 toavoid slipping of the foot units 52,62 relative to the ground surfacewhen the foot units 52,62 are at the extended position, as best shown inFIG. 5. Under this condition, the top edges of the right and front doorpanels 5,6 can cooperatively support the top lid 4 thereon in case thelatter is moved to an open position when fetching a tool 8 from thereceiving tray 36, as best shown in FIGS. 4 and 6.

[0027] Referring again to FIG. 2, each of the drawer members 37 isprovided with a pair of sliding rollers 370 at a rear part thereof. Theslide rails 34 confine a pair of sliding passages 340 within which therollers 370 are movably confined. Each of the slide rails 34 has a topwall 341 formed with a downwardly facing recess 342 at a front portionthereof. The recess 342 is in spatial communication with the slidingpassage 340 and permits a respective one of the rollers 370 to extendtherein when the drawer member 37 is drawn out of the drawer-receivingspace to a fully drawn position, as best shown in FIG. 3. At the fullydrawn position, the drawer member 37 is disposed to incline downwardlyrelative to the cabinet frame unit 3, thereby facilitating the fetchingof tools 8 from the drawer members 37.

[0028] With this invention thus explained, it is apparent that numerousmodifications and variations can be made without departing from thescope and spirit of this invention. It is therefore intended that thisinvention be limited only as indicated in the appended claims.

I claim:
 1. A tool cabinet comprising: a cabinet frame unit having an open top portion, a bottom portion, an open left side, an open right side, an open front side, and an open rear side, said cabinet frame unit including hollow left and right frame members which are disposed uprightly, which define said open left and right sides of said cabinet frame unit, and which are spaced apart from each other in a first direction, a plurality of connecting rods which extend in said first direction, which interconnect said left and right frame members, and which are disposed to define said open front and rear sides of said cabinet frame unit, and a pair of parallel slide rails which are mounted respectively on said left and right frame members and which extend in a second direction transverse to said first direction; a rear board member mounted on said cabinet frame unit to close said open rear side; a receiving tray mounted in said open top portion of said cabinet frame unit, said receiving tray cooperating with said slide rails to define a drawer-receiving space in said cabinet frame unit below said receiving tray, said drawer-receiving space being accessible from said open front side of said cabinet frame unit; a drawer member disposed in said drawer-receiving space and in sliding engagement with said slide rails such that said drawer member is capable of being drawn out of said drawer-receiving space via said open front side of said cabinet frame unit; a top lid mounted pivotally on said cabinet frame unit so as to conceal said receiving tray in said open top portion of said cabinet frame unit; left and right door panels mounted pivotally on one of said rear board member and said cabinet frame unit for closing a respective one of said open left and right sides of said cabinet frame unit; and a front door panel mounted pivotally on said cabinet frame unit for closing said open front side of said cabinet frame unit.
 2. The tool cabinet as defined in claim 1, wherein said bottom portion of said cabinet frame unit is provided with a plurality of casters that are mounted on bottom ends of said left and right frame members.
 3. The tool cabinet as defined in claim 1, further comprising a fastener tray mounted on an inner side surface of one of said left and right door panels.
 4. The tool cabinet as defined in claim 1, further comprising a foot unit mounted on one of said front, left and right door panels, said foot unit being operable so as to extend between a retracted position, where said foot unit does not extend beyond a bottom edge of said one of said front, left and right door panels, and an extended position, where said foot unit extends beyond said bottom edge of said one of said front, left and right door panels so as to be adapted to abut against a ground surface in order to arrest pivoting movement of said one of said front, left and right door panels relative to said cabinet frame unit.
 5. The tool cabinet as defined in claim 1, wherein said drawer member is provided with a pair of sliding rollers at a rear part thereof, said slide rails confining a pair of sliding passages within which said rollers are movably confined, each of said slide rails having a top wall formed with a downwardly facing recess at a front portion thereof, said recess being in spatial communication with said sliding passage and permitting a respective one of said rollers to extend therein when said drawer member is drawn out of said drawer-receiving space to a fully drawn position, said drawer member inclining downwardly when disposed at said fully drawn position. 